Out a month?

An MRI ruled today the precise scope of the Injury
Nadal will be out for a month …

After solving their problems in the foot with the templates, the knees have now become the main Achilles heel of Spanish • He will miss at least the tournament in Rotterdam and the Davis Cup

JOAN SOLSONA. Melbourne 28/01/10 – 13:20

Rafael Nadal at noon yesterday morning in Melbourne. There was no hurry because his flight back to Spain, via Doha, leaving at 23.00. He left the hotel with his agent at Nike, Jordi Robert, and his face reflected the concern of the results reported yesterday BRAND. If confirmed as suffering a torn quadriceps tendon in his right leg, the tennis player will at least for a month, which will miss Rotterdam and the Davis Cup, while their share in Indian Wells will be a mystery. A total of 1,300 locations, without defense, relegating him to sixth in the ATP rankings. He would advance so hopelessly Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del Potro in the world rankings.

To clarify the diagnosis and extent of the injury, Nadal will take place this afternoon an MRI in the clinic TOP of Barcelona, under the supervision of your doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro. The ultrasound imaging was done in Melbourne at the conclusion of his quarterfinal match with Andy Murray, revealed a tear in the quadriceps tendon. Depending on the amount of broken fibers, the most damaged and the biomechanics of player-for a lefty is worst right leg injury, will establish the final time low. But the reality is that the 30 days of planned Nadal preseason to prepare the hardcourt U.S. tour will become a heavy and lengthy rehabilitation.

Oh, everyone’s just repeating this, that Rafa thinks he’ll be back within days, blah blah. It was a good ‘don’t panic’ ‘leave me alone’ comment but if it takes longer I fear it’ll give the press another chance to write scaremongering headlines. Sigh.

“And sorry I do not share your sentiment that Rafa is a child that needs protection from us fans…. And I will certainly never stop cheering him on.”

Now Sunset, I think you’re being a bit unfair.
I never said that Rafa was a child that needs protection from us fans.
I just think that he passionate to the point of destruction. Meaning, that he wants to give his all, he wants to try his best, he wants to complete, even if it is better that he doesn’t. Of course that is one of the things that makes him Rafa, and one of the things that we all love most about him.

Of course if he were to take the court, we would all support him at whatever he does. Just because I feel that he needs to take his time and rest, and heal…for heaven’s sakes, that’s what a human body needs when it is trying to recover! But that doesn’t mean that I’m not supporting him. Like Rafangle pointed out, he played Rotterdam last year because he promised that he would! Never mind that he had just come off of an arduous victory at the AO not too long before. Madrid is also another example of him not wanting to disappoint his fans. It was clearly NOT the right decision, nor the best preparation for the FO, but he didn’t want to let them down.

Part of supporting is giving your opinion on what you think your favorite might be doing wrong. It doesn’t always mean screaming from the stands. Sometimes it means being, what some may feel as critical. It hurts to see him hurting.

I actually agree with what sunset said. One of my biggest complaints about a lot of Rafa fans is that they seem to think he’s some sort of perfect man-child who needs protection from the real world because he’s either too innocent or too simple-minded to make his own decisions. Now, they don’t put it exactly that way, but it’s what they are saying. I find it to be very insulting to Rafa.

There’s really no point in further debate on the topic of this article. We don’t know the extent of Rafa’s injury and, let’s face it, we might not ever know. Team Nadal is cagey with such information. They will do what they think is best.

Ungh have been agitating to know for days and now I’m not sure I want to. Though, as miri says, we may not know anyway – the team isn’t always an open book with the public (rightly so, before you jump on me, miri).

“One of my biggest complaints about a lot of Rafa fans is that they seem to think he’s some sort of perfect man-child who needs protection from the real world because he’s either too innocent or too simple-minded to make his own decisions.”

“Am I the only one who do not believe for a second that Rafa made the decisions in the past the he should play on when he probably shouldn’t, for the reason of not letting the FANS down?”

Sunset, if I’m remembering correctly, Rafa said this year how he would prefer to skip Madrid because it is NOT the best preparation for him, it is the most inconvenient tourney and it is sandwiched right in an already cramped clay season. I distinctly remember him saying something along the lines of “But can you imagine the reaction?” When he spoke about he possibilities of skipping the tourney.

My guess is he was referring to the tournament directors, sponsors, and fans, when he said that. Also, he felt bad about crashing out in the first round (to Seppi?) at Rotterdam in 2008. So he promised he’d come back next year. 2009 rolled around and he had two Epics under his belt and his first GS title on a hard-court. He STILL opted to play. He lost to Murray in the finals and they made him promise AGAIN that he would return. Come 2010 and he already let it be known that he is going to play Rotterdam (that’s before he hurt himself at AO).

Yes, I agree that he pressures himself, I said as much. But he also thinks about his fans to a fault. Remember Paris in 2008? Roger had a lower back injury. What did he do? He called a press conference, and let them all know that he pulls out. What did Rafa do? He stepped out onto court and tried to play verus Davydenko. After a set and a MTO, he retired. NOt that the ungrateful snots in the live audience appreciated his efforts.

I find this whole Rafa/fan discussion interesting. I have always thought (and this is just my personal opinion) that Rafa and so many other people in his position don’t really give a f-ck about the fans. With that I don’t mean that he doesn’t appreciate people cheering for him during matches, loving the tennis he plays etc. However, to have crowds of people wrapped in flags, hanging outside training courts and sitting in corners with their painted faces stained with tears when he loses…that must just feel weird to see.

To say that Rafa plays tourneys because he feels obliged to do so for his fans, is ridiculous. And must be untrue.

I do think the whole fan thing must puzzle him – it’s alien, he’s never done it himself and doesn’t have that sort of disposition. He is a gentle, honourable man, though, and does his best by these hordes of strangers who are so devoted. I imagine he is grateful for the devotion given to him, because he is a grateful person; although he doesn’t understand it, he understands that something good is meant. He also recognises a duty to be a good role model (which includes being generous and courteous to everyone he meets – unlucky for him he meets a damn sight more people in stranger situations than most!) Actually, he has an overweening sense of duty to the less appealing aspects of his job (tournament directors, sponsorship, fans) that can cause him to make decisions against his own interests (that honour we love – how many times have we bemoaned it in his playing and scheduling decisions?) No doubt the demands also drive him nuts sometimes!

For those reasons – his duty and niceness – I think two things: firstly, his sense of duty to his fans is sometimes one of several factors which will lead him to play when he shouldn’t, as he has himself said. Secondly, I’d imagine that his innate good nature would mean he’s generously disposed towards his fans: although he doesn’t need them as some famous people do, and would be happier without having to fulfil the demands, I’d suspect his attitude is more gentle and accepting than a lot of people who would prefer not to have to deal with fans.

I understand where the ferocity of some of the comments is coming from: it is strange to care so much about a complete stranger; hard to know that at best you cannot exist to him, at worse irritate him, and that there is no way you can give anything back to one who gives so much to us (mostly by default not intent). It’s difficult to accept that and to remember, with all the intense emotional investment, not to delude yourself that it’s anything other than one-way. Obviously it’s crucial to recognise the reality, but there’s a danger of going too far and denying ANY influence in his actions (because you don’t want to be tempted into thinking we’re important to him). To deny that influence, however, is to deny Rafa credit for the hard work he puts into being a good and dutiful man, and to suggest that his own statements on the subject are false. What would it say about him that he needs to make up such silly and unnecessary reasons? It is actually not very fair on him, I think.

Briefly: no, Rafa doesn’t care about us as we care about him, but yes, he does consider and oblige us up to a point. It’s another manifestation of the Rafa we know and love :) (except we neither know nor love him ;))